Going Native: Taste of Freedom (Patreon)

Bardock was trying to kill me. I was wrong before. I was wrong about being wrong about him. He was definitely, without a shadow of a doubt in my mind, trying to murder me. He might have saved my life a month ago from my own stupidity and arrogance, but I’m pretty sure it was only because he wanted the pleasure of killing me himself. 

Why else would he show up with five saibamen and tell me to fight them all at once?

“Ugh,” a grunt escaped me, blocking an attack from Stumpy, the shortest of the five saibamen. Reacting instantly, I grabbed its wrist, spinning sharply to throw it into Speedy, another saibaman that was much faster than the others. The two collided, falling to the ground in a heap. Dashing forward to seize the opportunity, I raised my foot to stomp on one of their necks, only to be blindsided from an attack to the right. 

Another blow landed on my side, catching my already bruised ribs, and throwing me off course. I recovered in time to duck underneath another attack from Stretch, an unusually tall saibaman, and planted my fist in its stomach. Using its height to my advantage, I jumped up as it folded over involuntarily, slamming the top of my head into its jaw. Pieces of broken fangs flew free, shattered by the force, it stumbled back, clutching at its ruined teeth in pain. 

The sound of velcro, or rather a sound that reminded me of it, came from my right. Reacting on instinct, I threw myself back in time to see clear fluid splatter over Stretch and where I stood. Steam came up from the floor, pockmarks forming underneath a powerful acid. Unfortunately, Stretch was fine, his biology rendering the acid useless against him. 

Touching down, I rushed towards the scrambling saibamen, intent on putting one of them out of the fight only to be cut off again, this time by a ki blast. An orb of yellow ki raced by me, nearly colliding with my head if I hadn't tilted it out of the way. Still going forward, I was forced to change target, instead going for the closest one. I threw a knee at Speedy’s face, it slammed into its eye, dark blood spurting out as it roared in pain. 

Another ki blast forced me to retreat. As I did, I glanced at Shooty and Spitty, both hanging back due to their favored attacks and named after them. They cackled in unison as Shooty readied its aim while Spittys head split open down the center to spew more acid. 

Tsking to myself, I retreated further back, putting the other saibamen between me and them. Neither seem to care about friendly fire, which was handy. By that time, Stumpy had recovered, Speedy’s eye ruined with blood dripping down its face. Stretch was quick to join them, glaring at me as it moaned in pain, its claws twitching as if it were imagining ripping me apart. 

Taking in a deep breath, I rushed towards them. My passive fighting style long since abandoned in the face of so many enemies. It just got me overwhelmed. Getting overwhelmed meant I got beat up. Getting beat up meant it didn’t stop until I was mostly, like 99% dead. After spending the past three months being varying stages of mostly dead, I could say that I honestly didn’t care for it that much. 

Launching myself at Stumpy, the smaller saibaman leapt back while the others went for my sides. Rudimentary tactics was the most they could do, so it was one I was used to. Turning sharply on my heel, I lashed out with a kick that caught Stretch in the jaw while my tail poked Speedy in its one eye. It cried out in pain as it grabbed my tail, every muscle freezing up like a million jolts of electricity was flowing through me. 

I grit my teeth, fighting against the pain, and yanked my tail towards me. With its light weight and my strength, Speedy came with my tail, meeting my fist halfway. It shot off-

Any rational thought was cut off when Speedy failed to let go of my tail when it shot off to the side, dragging me with it. Every muscle went limp, both of us landing heavily some feet away. I tried to push myself back up to my feet but my bones felt like they were made of jelly while my muscles were devoid of any strength. 

I looked up at the others just in time to catch a kick to the face that sent me flying. If there had to be a plus side not being able to feel anything, it was that I didn’t feel that. I slammed into the ground, rolling to my feet that wobbled dangerously before the others were on me. Stumpy was the first to reach me, attacking with a clawed hand at my face. 

Grabbing its wrist, I used it as a shield from a ki blast that washed over the smaller saibaman. It cried out in pain, too stunned to counter my grip, letting me slam it into Speedy that rushed to attack. At that same moment, Stretch attacked, its claws carving deep grooves along my ribs. Biting back a scream, I took the opening it gave me by placing a hand on the back of its head and driving it into my knee. 

Only then did I see Spitty behind the larger saibaman, a moment too late. Acid splashed over the back of Stretch, protecting me from the worst of it, but my hand burned. Acid ate away at flesh, my skin turning a bright red, then black in some spots where the concentration as worse. Using the utter agony I felt as fuel, I slammed my knee into Stretch’s face again. This time I felt something give way. 

Blood erupted as its jaw collapsed, its teeth caving in entirely. Panicked, its head split open to splash me with more acid like Spitty had done, giving me the chance to plunge my burning hand inside, grabbing the source of the acid and squeezing hard enough that it was crushed. More acid burned my hand, the pain was indescribable. 

Kicking off Stretch, the saibaman falling over, I fell to a knee, clutching at my wrist, trying to fight against the pain. My pain tolerance grew immensely, but the acid was easily the most painful experience by far. 

“Tough it out. Don’t stop moving,” Bardock spoke up, getting me to throw myself backwards as the others converged on me, sensing weakness. “Your enemies aren’t going to give you a breather. If you want one, then kill them all.”

Easier said than done, I thought, throwing myself back again to get some distance. Speedy lead the pack, Stumply lagging behind. Forcing myself to meet him halfway, I threw a kick to his head that was easily blocked, then countered with a blow to the stomach. Whatever breath was in my lungs raced out, its claws digging into my flesh. It gave me a cruel grin, twisting its claw. I wiped it off its face by slamming an elbow into its other eye, rendering it blind. 

Pulling myself away from Speedy, the saibaman clutching at its eyes as it screamed, I turned to Shooty and Spitty for the first time this bout. With only one saibaman to defend them, they were exposed. Judging from their panicked looks, they realized it. Shooty fired ki blasts, each of them missing by inches as I closed the distance between us. 

Jumping into the air over a jet of acid, I flipped once before doing an axe kick. Spitty scrambled out of the way, my attack missing, the metal floor warping underneath it. Grinding my teeth, I darted forward, launching myself up and sending a knee at its face. It hastily threw up a block that absorbed my blow. The others would have been fine, but there was a reason why Shooty and Spity preferred to hang back. 

Its arm snapped under my knee, it cried out in pain. Grabbing its oversized head, I slammed my knee into it again, and again, and again and again and- flipping over it, a ki blast slamming into Spitty. It didn’t kill the saibaman, but me putting it into a chokehold and snapping its neck did. 

Three were down. Two were left. With that thought driving me forward, I rushed towards Shooty, intent on taking it out next, only for Stumpy to intercept me. It went for my legs, only to catch my hands when I punched it. The blow didn’t do as much damage as I hoped, the saibaman accepting the blow before countering with wild attacks that drove me back. Each step took me further away from victory. 

Growling, I attacked again, throwing punches with all of my strength behind- something grabbed me by the legs, distracting me long enough that I felt Stumpy’s claws drag across my face. I could still see with both eyes, so I didn’t lose one. With them, I saw it was Speedy, having blindly caught me and gripped my legs to keep me in place. 

Fury rose in my chest. At it and at myself. I thought it was done for, so I counted it out of the fight. I was paying for that mistake now. “Die,” I snapped, taking my anger out on Speedy by elbowing the top of its head hard enough that it caved in, accepting another blow from Stumpy to kill the saibaman. 

Knowing that my strength was fading, I tackled Stumpy to the ground to escape Speedy’s death grip. It flailed wildly, surprised at the sudden grapple. Having much more experience than it, it was an easy task to flip it between me and Shooty. As expected, a ki blast hit Stumpy. Not just once, but three times in rapid succession. 

I punched it in the face to escape its grasp, intent on dealing with Shooty, only for it to wrap its arms around my shoulders and its legs around my waist. Looking down at its interlocked arms and legs, I saw that its light green skin had a faint glow to it. Knowledge downloaded into my brain told me what was going to happen next. 

My eyes widened to the point they could have fallen out of my head. It was about to self destruct. I wasn’t going to be able to escape its grasp before it blew, and I definitely wouldn’t be in any shape to deal with Shooty if I survived. With no other option, I shot to my feet and started running towards Shooty. 

It panicked, knowing what it's kin was doing, and fired off a shot at me. With no time to dodge, I accepted the ki blast to my side, then again against my ribs. Bardock’s were stronger, I told myself, Stumpy’s glowing getting brighter as I rapidly closed the distance. 

I was going to survive, I desperately hoped, doing a front flip so I wouldn’t be in between Shooty and the explosion. The last thing I saw before everything went white was Bardock’s smirk from across the room. 

…

“-is technique is sloppy, but he’s tough enough. He’ll survive. Probably,” I heard Bardock speak, my eye butterflying open. I was alive? I was alive. Did anything get blown off ...no, two arms, legs, tail and all my fingers and toes were accounted for. That was...surprising. 

“You’re getting too ansty, Bardock. Don’t think I didn’t hear about you picking a fight with Matillo. Now you want to go on a mission with the princling?” Another voice pestered, sounding very deep. Bardock blocked most of my view, but I could see dark blue Frieza-force armor on what seemed to be a very large man. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Bardock dismissed, “he managed to kill them in time and it’s already been approved by King Vegeta himself. The biggest hassle is going to be babysitting him.”

“So, the plan is to take the kid into a trap with us and hope he doesn't die? Aren’t you the one always saying that the first casualty in battle is always the plan?” The other voice asked, earning an annoyed huff from Bardock. “I’m not saying that I won’t go along, but are you sure you really want to do this? He’s been out of the tank for four months?”

“Three,” Bardock corrected. I didn’t need to see the other guys face to know that he was rolling his eyes. 

“Three months.” The voice amended, not exactly arguing against it but more of double checking that Bardock had all of the facts. If anything, judging by his tone, he sounded just as excited.

“I know all of that. It’s a risk but it's worth it. If only for my sake, another day here would have driven me insane.” Bardock offered his thoughts, earning my attention as I finally fully shook off the last remnants of unconsciousness. 

“Hm. Well, in that case,” the other voice agreed, giving a shrug of his shoulders. “Looks like he’s up. I’ll go prep the others.” The other voice turned around, walking out of the room. The little I saw of him, I realized he dwarfed Bardock, nearly standing a full head taller than my babysitter. 

Then Bardock’s face filled my window, a slight smirk still playing at the edge of his lips. “Finally. You were out of it for awhile. Get out of there and get dressed, we’re going on a mission. Meet me at the space port.” Bardock informed, walking out of the room as if he gave some kind of explanation. If I hadn’t overheard them talking, I would be clueless. I did overhear them and I still didn’t know what was going on. 

Even still, an order was an order. Pressing the drain button, I got out of the tank and spotted a messy pile of clothes. I snagged a...black one piece, this once covered my legs and arms fully.

With a careless shrug, I put the suit on followed by the Frieza-force armor. the armor was just as stretchy, surprisingly so. It was a solid black except for the stomach, shoulder and thigh guards, those were gold with white trimming. I stretched a few times and found that it didn’t impede my movement at all. It really was a one size fits all. 

After making sure my tail had full range of motion, I curled it around my waist. The last piece of my attire was a deep green scouter that attached to my ear. With it, I walked out of my room, walked across a thoroughly destroyed training room, and approached a door that I only ever saw the other side of once for a few seconds. 

My heart rate picked up, I was just as excited to finally leave this room as I was leaving the tank. The doors slid open revealing...a very generic hallway, almost exactly how I remembered it. Well lite, dull white ceiling, tan walls, and the floor was the same except for several colors of paint that lead the way to various parts of the building. 

That didn’t stop me from marveling at it, soaking up the new imagery. Three months. Three whole months of nothing but fighting for my life every single day. Every day, I felt death’s cold grip only to slip out of reach at the last possible second. Everything was so new and exciting that it didn’t matter if it was mundane. 

Looking down at the floor, I saw several messily painted lines of different colors. If I had to guess, they were guidelines to stop people from getting lost. By people, I probably meant Thyme. After a mental coin toss, I picked red and started walking. My took everything in, examining every detail of fresh, new surroundings, as I walked through conspicuously empty hallways. Eventually, I reached a large room with a set of doors on the far wall. 

My pace quickened, any stray thoughts vanishing like smoke in the wind as I neared the door, knowing what lay behind them. Once I reached them, I gave a solid push and took my first steps outdoors in three years. 

It was hot and humid, a well walked path marking a road on solid rock flanked by thick twisting trees. The sky was a bright blue without a single cloud in sight, the burning ball of fire hanging above shining brightly. It hurt to look at but that was just weakness leaving the body, so I stared up at it all the same, seering the sight into memory. 

For a long minute, I just stood there, marveling at the feeling of not being indoors. Wind, real wind, rustled my hair as it brushed against my face. I held my arms out, enjoying the feeling of sunlight on my skin, a warmth I didn’t know how much I missed until I experienced it again. I don’t know how long I would have stood there, but it wasn’t long enough before I heard someone chuckling behind me. 

Turning around, I saw a saiyan standing next to what looked like a motorcycle, if the wheels had been replaced by yellow floater cores. He was skinny for a saiyan, though muscle did cling to his thin body. A long scar marked his scalp, standing out because of his short hair. A laser gun was holstered on his thigh.

“You must be Tarble. Bardock told me to meet you here since you can’t fly yet,” he greeted, throwing on a painfully faked friendly smile. “Not sure why he didn’t take you with him, but whatever.” He muttered under his breath before gesturing to the bike. “Hop on,” he instructed, louder. 

Staring at the floating machine, I hesitated. It didn’t look like it would explode at a moments notice, but…

I walked towards it, realizing that there was a sidecar attached to it. Ignoring an impulse to jump into the driver's seat, I got in, noting a lack of a seatbelt. I mean, there should definitely be one there but I guess the saiyan mechanics never got around to inventing one. Or, rather, looting the design from other more advanced alien species. 

“My names Leek by the way,” Leek introduced himself, throwing a lopsided confident smile my way as he jabbed a thumb at himself. It faltered when I just nodded in response. “I’m part of Bardock’s team —well, I mean, I’m their pilot, not a combatant like the rest of them, but, you know, I’m on the team. I think. Bardock never really made it clear.”

I blinked at the word vomit, shifting in my seat, unsure how to respond. What was I supposed to say to that? How would I respond to Bardock?

I gave him a nod. For some reason, that made his fragile confident look collapse entirely. 

“Right,” Leek muttered to himself. “Nice going Leek, made yourself look like an idiot in front of royalty.” I’m...not sure he realized how good my hearing was. I mean, I was sitting right next to him, so there was no way I wasn't going to be able to hear that. “If you’re ready, let’s go.” He turned the bike on with a push of a button, the machine lifting off the ground. 

I hung halfway out of the sidecar to watch the ground get further and further away, until I could see the entirety of the Nursery. A smile found its way onto my face, feeling positively giddy at the sight. I was flying. I was free of the gestation tank and free of the training room. And I was flying. 

Eventually I turned my attention to the open air, seeing the land stretch out for as far as the eye could see. Trees covered the ground, except for a city skyline that stuck out like a sore thumb some distance away. Birds of all kinds flew beneath us, all of them large enough to swallow me whole, their hands tipped with razor sharp claws, flying in formation that I recognized as searching for prey. 

It was a habit of saiyans to bring creatures back to planet Vegeta if they were strong or tasty enough. It meant that the ecosystem was a complete and utter mess, completely packed with apex predators with more entering the fray every year. Most failed to adapt to planet Vegeta’s heavy gravity, more were hunted to extinction by either other predators or saiyans, but those that survived thrived. They weren’t a threat to most saiyans warriors, the working-class on the other hand, it wasn’t uncommon for them to become a meal if they weren’t careful. 

As if summoned by my thoughts, a loud screech echoed through the air. A screech of challenge, the echoes reverberating through me, and Leek if his suddened panicked expression was anything to go by. He whipped around, his head turning on a swivel to find the source, sweat dripping down his brow. “That’s not good. That’s really not good!”

Like they were drawn by a magnet, my eyes rose upwards to make eye contact with…bright green eyes, the pupil shaped in a slit. A monstrous dragon type beast, its wings stretching over fifty feet across, it was a dark purple color except where black bone protrusions sprouted on it’s wide mouth filled with sharp teeth, looking like a beard. No, a helmet that lead to rows of spikes down its spine that were revealed when it angled downward, flying towards us with frightening speed. 

“Oh crap!” Leek shouted, following my gaze before the bike shot forward hard enough my back slammed into my seat. He pulled out his gun, firing a light blue laser that hit the monster on its onyx colored helmet, doing no damage. “Hold on, princling! We gotta get to Bardock. They can take care of it for us.” 

The beast corrected its course, folding its massive wings to make itself a smaller target and reducing air resistance. It’s massive mouth cracked open, revealing rows upon rows of dangerously sharp teeth. 

“Can this thing go faster?” I asked, my voice sounding calm to my own ears. We were about to get eaten. I escaped the Nursery, only to be eaten by some random animal on my way to a mission. What an absolute joke. 

“No! We’re almost there, though! Bardock will meet us halfway!” Leek responded, bringing my attention to a launching platform outside of what looked like a half destroyed city. What I didn’t notice anyone flying in our direction to take care of the dragon. That didn’t surprise me. Saiyans were more likely to sit back and laugh instead of offering a helping hand. 

“Can-” I started to ask, only to be cut off when the bike jerked to the side suddenly. A blur of the massive beast rushed by our bike, so close I could have reached out and touched it. A wall of wind slammed into us in its wake, knocking us widely to the side, spinning out of control before Leek regained control. I nearly fell out entirely, I would have if Leek didn’t reach out to steady me with a hand on my shoulder. 

“Can you give me your gun? I can’t shoot ki blasts yet,” I shouted, looking down at the beast to see its wings unfold to stop its decent. 

“What’s a ki blast- never mind, here.” Leek started, pressing the gun into my hand. Thanks to my education, it was a simple matter of aiming and firing. A blue ray raced towards the monsters wing, hitting the darker purple webbing of its wings. It wasn’t too much of a shock to see that it did exactly zero damage. Even still, I fired again and again, accomplishing nothing but making myself feel better about doing something. 

The monster flapped its mighty wings, soaring back up before twisting so it was angled for another run at us. 

“I don’t think we’re going to make it,” I observed, firing away. “Is Bardock coming?” I asked, not daring to look up to check. I kept firing at its face, blue lasers hitting all around its face with no reaction at all. 

Leek tsked to himself, “I don’t see anyone coming. What is this thing doing here anyway?! This is a flying zone, the guard is supposed to take care of animals like this!” Leek shouted, moving onto anger of the five stages of grief. 

So, it was up to us to deal with it. Well...we were probably dead in that- My thoughts were cut off when I pulled the trigger again, this laser hitting the monster in between its eyes. Before, it seemed to barely notice the lasers, this time its eyes narrowed. Either it was self aware enough to glare at me or it was trying to protect its eyes. 

I took aim and started firing away at its eyes, one laser struck true, hitting it deadcenter between the eyes. To my disappointment, it didn’t cut its losses and fly away. Worse, it narrowed its eyes into slits, making it impossible to hit, before it flaped of its wings, picking up speed. It would swallow us whole in seconds. 

My mind raced, trying to think of something-

No. Don’t think. Do. 

“Catch me,” I instructed Leek before jumping out of the sidecar. My stomach did flips as I raced towards the monsters gaping maw. If I couldn’t hit it from far away, then I needed to get close enough that it was impossible to miss. With no time to maneuver, I angled my body to avoid plummeting down its gulet in favor of smacking into its nose. A grunt of pain escaped me on impact, my head bouncing off surprisingly smooth black bone. 

Pushing through the pain with practiced ease, I took aim with my gun, looking directly into the large eyes of the beast. They widened, shocked to see me, offering up a perfect target. I pulled the trigger, steam erupting where it hit, the bolt disappearing into the beast eye. It threw its head back and roared so loud that I couldn’t hear anything else, shaking its head in agony. 

Wincing in pain, I kept my grip in a nook of its nose, taking aim at its other eye, only to see that it was clenched shut. I fired at it anyway, but its hide proved too tough. A scorch mark appeared, the only sign of damage. Tsking to myself, I realized I wouldn’t be able to blind it completely. Turning away, I saw Leek circling back, racing towards me. 

I jumped again, sailing towards Leek with my arms outstretched. Time seemed to slow down as I neared, a realization dawning on me. I was too far away. I was going to fall. 

Sure enough, my hands grasped at empty air, the once nearing bike suddenly getting further away as gravity took hold. I was falling. Leek looked down at me, clearly panicked as he tilted the bike down. We both raced passed by the monster that still roared in pain, deafening me to whatever Leek was trying to say. From my view, I saw the monster whip around, one eye clenched shut, while the other looked directly at me. 

Okay. Maybe it was self aware enough to glare.

Light shone through the cracks of its teeth, standing out despite it being in the middle of the day, as it turned around to fully face us. My eyes widened when I saw its jaw crack open, revealing a glowing orb of energy, it looked a thousand times more powerful than anything the saibamen could throw at me. If that hit me then there wouldn’t even be ash left. 

Leek seemed to sense the attack, glancing over his shoulder. I caught a glimpse of a panicked expression appearing on his face, then seeing it fully when he looked back at me. I knew exactly what he was about to do next before he did it. His panicked expression became conflicted before a grimace. It wasn’t a shock when he turned the bike to the side to get out of the way, leaving me free falling. 

So, either I was going to die from the fall or from a giant laser beam- 

No. I’m not going to die. I absolutely refuse to die here. What could I do to get out of this?

I fired my gun, wracking my brain for any hint of a lesson on how to fly. It was something that every warrior needed to be able to do, there had to be something. A description came to mind of a feeling, a tug in your gut that you used to ignore gravity. It didn’t do me a lot of good, but it was better than nothing. 

My eyes closed, trying to find that feeling. To my shock, it was easier than I expected -- there was no soul searching, grand ephafenie, or great realization. It was like there was a pool of energy that I only became aware of when I looked for it. When my eyes opened, I saw the beam launch from the monsters mouth, racing towards me at breakneck speeds. 

Trusting my gut, I flew out of the way, feeling the heat on my face but otherwise okay. I found myself looking down to see a large explosion that devastated a large part of the forest, leaving behind a massive crater when the light had faded. It was so wide and deep that I couldn’t see the bottom of it. A roar brought my attention back to the monster, just in time to see a ki blast slam into the side of the monster before erupting out of the other side. 

For a moment, the monster hung in the air, just as shocked as I was, before gravity took hold. It started to fall, a low growl escaping its throat. I thought it was going to fall, the damage done to it being too much, but instead it flapped its wings as it let loose another roar that seemed to shake the air. It sent one final look at me, seeming memorizing my appearance and putting me at the very top of its shit-list, before it turned around. 

I watched it fly away, blood leaking out of it by the gallon until it was little more than a spec in the distance. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I would be seeing it again. 

“Tarble,” A voice spoke in my ear through my scouter. It took me a moment to place it, having only heard it a handful of times over the years. The voice belonged to Vegeta. “Stop staring like a buffoon and get down here.”

“Er,” I started, not sure how to respond. “Sure.” Nice going. What was Vegeta doing here?

Turning to the launch platform, I ignored Leek and blasted off in that direction. Flying was...weird. It was almost intuitive by just willing myself to ignore gravity, but it felt like if I didn’t give it my full attention then I would plummet to my death. I soared through the air at a sputtering pace, slowly growing more natural with every second.

As I neared, I saw half a dozen people  standing in front of a large saucer ship, bigger than what's usual for a five man team. I recognized Bardock standing in the center, flanked by familiar blue armor that must be the man Bardock was talking to earlier. There were others, but I couldn’t bring myself to give them a second look in favor of staring at Vegeta, who stood in front of all of them. 

I touched down in front of him,  unsure what to say. The last time we saw each other, I was getting my butt kicked by the weakest saibaman. Vegeta didn’t seem to have that problem, a hand going up to his scouter to read my power level. 

“Hm, only 630?” Vegeta said with a frown, crossing his arms, his eyes narrowed. “Though, I suppose it is progress compared to your pathetic showing before. You’ve even figured out how to fly.” He added with what sounded like begrudging acceptance. 

I perked up at the praise, no matter how backhanded, and it must have showed because Vegeta was quick to continue. “Wipe that smile off your face. You still have a very long road ahead of you if you ever want to be acknowledged by Father.” His words did what he intended, killing a slight smile in favor clenching my jaw at the reminder. 

People might call me a prince or princling, but I wasn’t. King Vegeta’s blood runs through my veins but he did not acknowledge me. For now.

Vegeta smirked at my expression before he quickly adopted a severe expression. “I’m sure you know this by now, but the mission you’re taking is of great importance.” Vegeta said, sounding like he was repeating someone else word for word. “Which is why I’m here!” He added, a little forcefully. “Frieza has bestowed the honor of getting first blood against the Reach to the saiyan race!”

Oh. Oh...oh. I...I was about to start a war, wasn’t I?

Vegeta continued, oblivious or uncaring to my sinking realization. “Which is why you must succeed. Purge the planet of all life, sentient or beast. The Reach cannot ignore such an attack against one of their protectorates. It will be war.” He explained, giving me a full blown smile. 

My head bobbed on its own accord, unsure how to feel. Part of me that still remembered being human told me I should be afraid, while everything else hummed with anticipation. All of the knowledge of the Reach downloaded into my brain was exciting rather than daunting. In the end, I had to pick between the two. 

I chose to feel excited over the fights to come. 

Vegeta seemed to sense my decision, giving me a curt nod as he dramatically turned around to walk away, his cape fluttering out exactly like King Vegeta’s. I turned to Bardock and his team, seeing most of them already getting on the ship. I moved to do the same, only to stop when I heard Vegeta speak up as I walked up the rampart. 

“Tarble.” He said, causing me to look over my shoulder. He pinned me with an indescribable look, his onyx black eyes searching for something. “Don’t die.”

I met his gaze for a long second before I found myself nodding, stepping into the ship as I answered. 

“I won’t.”